Skate stop



March 30, 1943. LIEBERMAN SKATE STOP Filed- June 26, 1941 INVENTOR.

4277102 Z/ffifEM/IM BY WWW Patented Mar. 30, 1943 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 2,315,:42' v Arthur Bezel 2:13:36, Ind.

Application June 26, 1941, Serial No. 399,819

5 Claims.

This invention relates to a skate stop adapted to be applied to a skaters shoes and to serve as means by which a person on roller skates may quickly come to a stop while skating.

The primary object of the invention is to provide a novel, simple and inexpensive device which is readily attachable to a skate shoe to serve as an effective brake or stop for skaters. A

A further object is to provide a skate stop which may be solidly secured to a skate shoe to withstand the stresses applied thereto in braking.

A further object is to provide a skate stop formed of hard rubber shaped to correspond to the shape of the toe portion of the shoe, and having a front portion sufliciently thick to permit contact with a rink surface without contact of the shoe with said surface, and a thinner rear portion to enlarge the bearing area of the stop with the sole of a shoe and to facilitate the use of ample securing means to solidly and securely hold the stop to the shoe.

Other objects will be apparent from the description, drawing, and appended claims.

In the drawing:

Fig. 1 is a diagrammatic side view of a skate and skate shoe illustrating my skate stop applied to the shoe. 1

Fig. 2 is a bottom plan view of the skate stop.

Fig. 3 is a side view of the skate stop.

Fig. 4 is a rear end view of the skate stop.

Fig. 5 is a longitudinal vertical sectional view I of the skate stop taken on line 5-5 of Fig. 2.

Fig. 6 is a sectional view corresponding to Fig.

5 and illustrating a modified embodiment of the invention.

Fig. I is a sectional view corresponding to Fig. 5 and illustrating another modified embodimen of the invention.

Fig. 8 is another view corresponding to Fig. 5 and illustrating another embodiment of the invention.

Referring to the drawing, which illustrates the preferred embodiment of the invention, the numeral l0 designates a skate shoe having a sole H and aheel II. The top plate l3 of a roller skate I4 is fixedly secured to the sole and heel of the shoe. My skate stop l5is illustrated in Fig. 1 in its operative relation to the skate shoe.

Skate stop I5 is formed of rubber hard enough to resist deforming thereof under stress but sufiiciently soft to have an effective braking action without danger of breakage due to brittleness when subjected to stress. The stop l5 has a curved front edge l6 and rearwardly diverging side edges l1, whereby it substantially conforms to the shape of the toe portion of the sole of a shoe. The front portion l8 of the stop is of a substantial thickness, whereby, when the skater tilts his foot about the forward wheels of his skate, front portion I8 may be brought into contact with the rink surface at an angle substantially less than would be required to bring the front of the sole ll of the shoe into contact with the rink surface. I have found that the preferred thickness of portion I8 is approximately one inch, or a dimension substantially one-third the distance from the skating surface to the bottom of the shoe sole. The thickened portion l8 extends not more than one-half the total length of the skate stop, and is defined at its rear edge by a rearwardly upwardly inclined face IS. The rear portion 20 of the stop is of a reduced thickness, preferably about one-half the thickness of the front portion ll of the stop. Th rear edge 2| of the stop is preferably formed by a fiat rearwardly upwardly inclined surface 2|.

The top face of the stop is provided with a deep concavity 22 whereby the thickness of the skate stop is less adjacent its center than adjacent its edges l1 and It. The concavity 22 extends to the rear edge 2| of the skate stop as best illustrated in Fig. 5. The thick front portion 18 of the skate stop has a plurality of preformed holes or recesses 23 formed therein adjacent its front margin. Holes 23 are axially aligned with metal washers 24 imbedded within the rubber. and serving as stops for the heads of nails employed to secure the device to the sole of a shoe. I have found that for best results it is desirable to provide a nail hole 23 at the front center portion of the enlargement l8 and at least two other nail holes arranged in complementary relation to the first at opposite sides of the portion l8. Similar preformed openings 25 are formed in the reduced thickness portion 20 of the skate stop adjacent opposite sides thereof. 7

The skate stop is secured to the sole of the shoe by nailing, in the manner well understood in the art. Care must be taken to position the. stop in balanced or centered relation with respect to the longitudinal center line of the shoe sole.

The stop should extend substantially to the front edge of the shoe sole, as illustrated in Fig. 1. A nail is driven in each of the nail holes 23 and 25. The rubber of which the stop is formed is of sufiiclent flexibility to permit the concave top surface 22 of the stop to be forced into full bearing engagement with the bottom of the sole ll of the shoe.

The use of at least five nails to secure the stop to the shoe sole insures that the same will be solidly and nrmly mounted upon the sole in a manner to withstand the stresses applied thereto in use. Note in this connection the use of three nails atthe front or toe portion 18 where the greatest stress occurs. The rearward upward inclination of the rear wall I! of the front portion ll ofthestopisalsoimportantasameansto reinforce this thickened portion ll of the stop against the forces which are applied thereto.

In order to provide an effective skate stop, it is desirable that the thickness thereof shall be suiiicient to permit contact thereof with the rink surface without requiring tilting of the skate and the foot at an angle which makes the use thereof awkward, yet the thickness must not be so great that the stop interferes with the full free movement of the foot in skating. The instant construction with its thickened portion II and rear comparatively thin portion Ill permits the formation of the front working portion I! of the stop of ample thickness to be effective for its purpose. It will be observed in this connection that the stresses which are applied to the stop during use thereof have longitudinal and downward com-- ponents, that is, the stresses-are applied at anangle to thetop and bottom faces of the stop. The use of reduced portion I! provides a foundation or bearing surface of sufllcient area and size to p rmit the stop to effectively withstand the longitudinal component of the force applied in braking or stopping. The number and location of the securing nails withstand the downward stress.

' together with the rigidity of the member and its than the portion .ll of the preferred embodiment,

and is provided with a rear edge 2! which is inclined upwardly and forwardly so that the longitudinal dimension of part 28 is greater at its bottom than at its top. The length of part 28 is short enough to render said part more flexible than the remainder of the stop, so that it may flex as illustrated in dotted lines at ll when used. Except as herein specifically mentioned, each of the embodiments I and I and corresponds in other respects to the preferred embodiment.

I claim:

1. Askate stop adapted to be secured to the toe portion of the sole of a shoe and comprising a body formed of rubber of a hardness sufficient to resist distortion imder stress but capable of beingflexedwithout breaking, said body having a front edge curved to substantially conform with the toe of a shoe and merging with rearwardly diverging sides, a portion of said body at the front thereof and extending substantially midway of the body length being of a substantially uniform thickness substantially greater than the thickness of the rear portion, said body having a plurality of nail-receiving openings in its front portion, and having additional nail-receiving openings in its rear portion.

2. A skate stop adapted to be secured to the toe portion of the sole of a shoe, comprising a body formed of rubber, said body being curved at its front and diverging rearwardly from said curve, the front portion of said body being of a thickness substantially twice that of the rear portion and merging therewith at a vertically tapered intermediate portion, said body having a plurality of nail-receiving openings in each of its frontand-rear portions.

3. AM stop comprising a body of a shape substantially conforming to and adapted to be secured to the toe portion of the sole of a shoe, said body having a thick flat front portion, a comparatively thin substantially flat rear portion and a vertically tapered intermediate portion, said front portion being of a thickness approximately one-third of the spacing of the shoe sole above the skating surface, the rear edge of said front portion extending parallel and adjacent to an inclined plane tangential to the lower front peripheral portions of the front wheels of the skate and passing through the upper front edge of the stop body.

4. A skate stop as deflnedin claim 3, wherein said body has a plurality of nail-receiving openings therein adjacent its front and side margins and including openings at the center and opposite sides of said front portion.

5. A skate stopcomprising a rubber body of a shape substantially conforming to the shape of the toe portion of a shoe and adapted to be secured thereto, said body having a front portion of substantially greater thickness than the rear portion thereof and defined in part by an upwardly forwardly inclined rear face, said front portion being of a comparatively short length to accommodate limited flexing thereof, the major portion of said body being substantially rigid. 

